


Erised in Daylight

by WolfAndHound_Archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Denial, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2018-05-18 13:23:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5930035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfAndHound_Archivist/pseuds/WolfAndHound_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"In the years that had passed since his last view, he had revised his opinion; Erised was best seen in the light of day, so as to be able to view it entirely."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Erised in Daylight

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Lassenia, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Wolf and Hound](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Wolf_and_Hound), which was created to make stories posted to the Sirius_Black_and_Remus_Lupin Yahoo! mailing list easier to find. However, even though I still love the fandom, I am no longer active in it and do not have the time to maintain it. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in December 2015. I posted an announcement with Open Doors, but we may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on the [Wolf and Hound collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/wolfandhound/profile).

TITLE: Erised in Daylight

AUTHOR: Maple Tide

E-MAIL: mapletide@fastmail.fm

DISCLAIMER: The characters involved that are from the Harry Potter universe are the property of J. K. Rowling and all associated publishers (including Scholastic Press, Bloomsburg, and Raincoast). I'm just borrowing them for my own nefarious purposes. The plot involved, any stray characters that may crop up, and any other things that don't belong to her belong to me. I'm not seeking to make any money off of this; rather I'm going it for fun and for the chance to get it out of my own imagination before it drives me even more insane. Understood? =) Good.

RATING: PG

CATEGORY: Romance, Alternate Universe

KEYWORDS: Remus, Mirror of Erised

PAIRINGS: Remus/Sirius (background Ron/Hermione)

SPOILERS: vague spoilers for OotP. Kept some, threw out the rest. I'm bad like this.

ARCHIVE: Here's Your Trouble. Azkaban's Lair. Wolf and Hound. Astronomy Tower.

FEEDBACK: Please? I can be reached at mapletide@fastmail.fm

SUMMARY: "In the years that had passed since his last view, he had revised his opinion; Erised was best seen in the light of day, so as to be able to view it entirely."

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well, I was working on my webpage, and I noticed I had never written the follow-up to "The Closer the Tides Bend" as I told myself I would do ages ago. This might possibly qualify for the Against Angst Challenge, although there is a tiny bit, but no more than wouldn't normally exist between these two. There's a happy ending :) Anyway, enjoy.

 **~** ~ **~** ~ **~** ~ **~** ~ **~** ~ **~** ~ **~** ~ **~** ~ **~** ~ **~**

Again, he was where he once was, roaming the halls of Hogwarts. It was a familiar path he followed, and even through the destruction that had been landed upon the school, it was something of a relief that he could still find what it was he sought.

Up the stairs, laughing nearly like a schoolboy again when the staircases moved, and when they deposited him in another location, he had to find his way back to the path he originally would have followed. There had been a time when he would have been annoyed at the put-off, but for now, he ignored the lingering pain in his leg and moved forward and onward.

He didn't have much time here, he was needed elsewhere.

The magical artifact had been useful during the war, and finaly they had all understood why Dumbledore had still kept it here. He had been annoyed, frustrated, and angry with the old man numerous times over the years the war had lasted. He had pushed the son they had sworn to protect to the limits time after time, and it was all Remus could stand to simply stand back and watch.

All because of a prophecy that laid more responsibility on Harry's young shoulders.

Then their own school years had been frought with danger; still, they had been younger, more foolish, and definitely more arrogant than Harry had been allowed to be. Technically. For as Remus watched him from a distance over the years, he saw James' arrogance reflected in those eyes. It would have driven Lily mad, but in order for him to survive, there had to be some arrogance there. This was a fact that Remus had understood far too well, after years of experiencing the same from Sirius.

Yet, it was different, because it was mixed with anger at all the things kept from him. Not just the normal life that they had been allowed to live, but other things. Information, mostly, and that was something Sirius had been most insistant upon giving him, even against the protestations of others in the Order.

The war was over now, and he forced such dark thoughts from his mind, pausing to massage the pain from his leg. Peter had decided to have his vengeance at last, and while the silver itself did not burn him as it was long thought it would, having something like a knife plunged into one's leg did do some damage. In younger years, he would have scoffed, peered down at the silver ring he had worn since his childhood, and walked away from the bearer of such news with a laugh.

Sunlight bathed him in warmth, which encouraged him to stay in the position for just a while longer. Finally, though, he felt the need to rise and move on.

Back to the object he sought, located in the teacher's wing, which was a place he had once known well. Several moments passed while he looked in some of the abandoned rooms, but when he found what he sought, Remus couldn't fight away a smile.

Even though it was sunlight reflecting on the floor of the room rather than moonlight, nothing had changed. He strode across the room and stood before the mirror before pulling away the cloth. The Mirror of Erised, which he had sought time and again during that one year he had taught at the school, before the war had started in earnest.

His dream then, his most fond wish, had been partially true. Sirius was innocent, and that knowledge had settled onto his heart, helping to heal old wounds that had cut too deep; only time had helped to complete the healing begun then. They could not go back and prevent Lily and James from being murdered, but they did have now, which was more than they had believed then.

In the years that had passed since his last view, he had revised his opinion; Erised was best seen in the light of day, so as to be able to view it entirely.

When he looked into the mirror now, he was surprised at what he saw. There had been an echo of this, years ago. In the mirror at the flat he and Sirius had once shared, right before he was captured and send to Azkaban, there had been the briefest glimpse of those arms wound around his waist, murmuring things in his ear.

It was this image he saw; Sirius' arms around his waist, and holding him so tight. The only difference between the vision of the past and the one of the present was the current clothing, the dress robes rather than those from the fading glam era. He closed his eyes away from the image; in this case, desire had become reality at last. It was not the proof that all things were meaningless, as he had thought then, or even as he thought later, that it was no use to wish for that which was lost. No, just simple reality away from this place.

Then, in a mirror of the image before him, Remus felt arms wind around his waist and pull him backwards. A familiar scent met his senses, and he smiled. Honestly, he should have known that Sirius would find him eventually. For long moments, they just stood there like that before he heard the huff of soft laughter in his ear. More a chuckle than his normal bark-like laugh, but it was an indication of amusement all the same.

"Yes, Sirius?"

"Well, Moony... I was just thinking that I would have to scour all the castle to find you."

"Did you?"

"No," and the the soft motion of hair against his cheek made him believe Sirius was shaking his head. "I knew exactly where you'd be."

"And how would you know that?"

"It's you, Moony," was said as though it was answer enough. After a moment, Remus decided that indeed, it was.

Silence fell for a moment before Sirius spoke again.

"You do know Harry was well near frantic," and there was that laughter again.

"You'd think it was he getting married, instead of his two best friends."

"Indeed," and he chuckled. "So I volunteered to go look for you, just to keep him from clinging to my dress robes. I wouldn't want them to be wrinkled, as you well know."

"I don't know," Remus smirked. "You never seem to mind when I do it."

"Well, that's different."

"Is it really?"

"You know it is," and there was a kiss brushed against his temple. "Come, Moony. Let us go before they start worrying again, or worse, start the ceremony without us."

Remus turned slightly. "They wouldn't dare! Start the ceremony without you?"

"Well, I didn't think so, but I want to be sure..."

Remus laughed again, and turned back to Erised for just a moment. The image there reflected the two of them as they once had been, and he sorrowed that Sirius would not be able to see this. Then the image shifted to just himself, standing there in his dress robes, winking and smiling before disappearing. When the mirror clarified simply to a reflection of the two of them, mostly likely the same one Sirius was seeing, he turned away.

He had found what he had sought, and it was never good to spend much time in the presence of magical artifacts such as this.

"Come, Padfoot. We have to grace our presence at a wedding, I believe."

So they left the room together, the mirror forgotten.

 **~** ~ **~** ~ **~** ~ **~** ~ **~** ~ **~** ~ **~** ~ **~** ~ **~** ~ **~**

-end-


End file.
